Love for Today

Advent Reading by Couple’s Group

(READER 1) A reading from the book of First John, chapter 3, verses 16-18: 16

1 John 3:16–18 “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.”

The Word of God for the people of God (Thanks be to God)

(READER 2) Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent when we celebrate how God’s love for us was revealed through sending His Son, fully God and fully man to a dying world. Love is more than a feeling—Love is the person, Jesus. It’s embodied by choosing to serve, forgive, and show kindness like Jesus did. Advent love reflects the heart of God, who comes near to us through our relationship with His Son.

Today we light the first purple candle again, revisiting our HOPE in Him. (LIGHT THE FIRST PURPLE CANDLE)

We light the second candle again, recognizing the PEACE we have in Him. (LIGHT THE SECOND PURPLE CANDLE)

We also light again the pink candle, re-igniting our JOY in Jesus. (LIGHT THE PINK CANDLE)

(READER 1) Within the Christmas story, angels function as messengers of love and the good news of Jesus Christ come in the flesh. So today, on the fourth Sunday of Advent we light the fourth candle, called the “angel” candle as a symbol of God’s LOVE proclaimed through Christ. In these days leading up to Christmas, we prepare our hearts to demonstrate the love of God and to share the good news with all people. (LIGHT THE THIRD PURPLE CANDLE)

(READER 2) Let’s Pray as we remember how Jesus gave us Love for Today.

SLIDE: Call: “God’s love has come to us in Christ”

Response: “We will share His love with the world”

God of love, fill our hearts with compassion. Help us to love as You love—freely, generously, and without condition. May we always remember how you first loved us by giving us your only Son to rescue us from the punishment of our sin and the curse of death forever. God’s love has come to us in Christ; (We will share His love with the world). Amen.

Couples return to their seats

Opening

Yes, we will share His love with the world. It is for God’s love to the world that He gave us his one and only Son... Who ever heard of a love so powerful as to grant eternal life to the one who receives it? This love is so much more than a feeling or what happens when boy meets girl… in all the stories, myths and legends some try to describe this kind of love but nothing even comes close to the reality of God’s love through Jesus. The Christmas story is the greatest love story ever told - for it is the gift of love itself that came down at Christmas. This love story is real and we are the objects of God’s affection. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16 ) God’s love has come to us in Christ; and we will share His love with the world.

Introduction

Good morning, and welcome to Cross Creek Community Church. My name is Amanda Stiles and to those of you joining us for the first time, we’d like to say, “Welcome Home.” If you’re visiting us today for the first time, please take out that little contact card in the seat pocket in front of you or the welcome packet you received. Today’s service is our gift to you, all we ask is that you just fill out that card and drop it in the offering later so we can connect. There’s also a prayer request card for anyone needing prayer. To those of you joining us online, we are glad you’ve found us on Facebook this morning @crosscreekfl, if you’re planning to watch this later, please follow our YouTube channel, @crosscreekflorida for all of the past Sunday messages.

Today is the fourth Sunday of Advent, and we just lit the fourth candle on our Advent wreath, otherwise known as the “Angel Candle” as a symbol of Gods love proclaimed through Christ. Like all the Advent key-words, hope, peace, joy and love; they are poured out from God through Jesus and in the Holy Spirit. God’s angels are the great announcers of His glory, the worshipers of heaven’s celebration, and just as they respond to God with worship in heaven, these expressions of God’s glory illicit a response from those of us here on the earth as well. We hope in the darkness, we walk in peace through trials, we rejoice in spite of our circumstances, and we love even as the world pushes hate.

Jesus chose to love and to forgive those who persecuted Him. He demonstrated the Father’s love for us by choosing love and laying down His life for us so that we might be spared. Last week, we ended our service with His very clear command, “Love each other as I have loved you.” (John 15:12) Obviously we have a choice. Love is a choice, and God’s love through Jesus commands a response… can we? will we? love one another? It sounds simple enough… but with as many tales, legends, movies and songs created about love, what we call love and what God calls love may actually be very different things.

So today, we are going to look closely at the Father’s love according to His nature, His generosity, and His desire to be in relationship with His children. He proclaimed His love for us through Christ. His love letter to the world, all wrapped up in this little baby’s swaddling cloth. Jesus is God’s love for today.

Let’s pray

The New Testament uses many different Greek words for “love” in different contexts. There’s eros love for physical attraction, philia for friendship, and storge for kinship. The word most commonly used for the human emotion toward another human is phileo which refers to spontaneous, natural affection or affinity toward someone or something. We see the word phileo used when the hypocrites “love” to pray on the street corners in Matthew 6:5, and when describing the love of father or mother in Matthew 10:37. The word phileo is also used in John 12:25 when Jesus says “anyone who loves their life will lose it,” and in John 15:19 describing the love that the world has for it’s own. This is a familiar kind of love, it’s a fleeting and fickle kind of human love.

The word used when referring to the love of God in the New Testament is agape. It’s generally assumed to mean moral goodwill which proceeds from esteem, principle, or duty rather than inclination or liking. Where phileo is love based on attraction and charm, agape is unconditional love. It means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection. Agape is used to describe the steadfast and eternal love of God. In His love for us, though undeserving, He sent down in His Son.

God’s love

God’s love, agape love is not emotional, it’s not based on the response of the recipient. We see it used throughout the New Testament when referring to the unconditional, unshakable, steadfast love of Christ. When He says “remain in my love” in John 15:9, and “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” in John 15:13. Paul refers to the agape love of God that has been “poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit” in Romans 5:5, and of course, the ultimate demonstration of God’s own love for us that “while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” in Romans 5:8.

God’s love is not reserved or limited to those who serve Him. It’s faithful... not to a person, but to His very own identify. God’s love is firmly rooted in who He is. God is love, and His love is based on His infallible Word. His love is eternal and foundational in the promises He has made with His people. God’s love is covenantal, unbreakable and fulfilled through the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. 1 John 3:1 says, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”

Generous Love

God’s great love is generous, from a good and perfect Father who loves us unconditionally as His children. It’s given freely and lavished on us without requiring religious duties. God’s love doesn’t need to be earned, it has been unconditionally poured out through sending Jesus to us even though we didn’t deserve it. His love is received by faith and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit rather than through strict rules or works. The love of Jesus releases us from what we once owed God because of our failings.

Romans 13:8–10 “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.”

Whatever we have done wrong that once separated us from God, whatever has made us feel unworthy or unclean and deserving of judgement - those things represent a long list of debts - like traffic tickets that have piled up and we can’t afford to pay. But the love of God has decided that He wants us in His family - and so His Son has paid our fines. Believing in the Lord, Jesus settles our debts with God. And all the rules and laws, all the things we knew we should not be doing but did anyway - they all get wrapped up into one simple command: Love. “For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”” (Galatians 5:14)

We love because He first loved us. If only we had the power to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is that love. I’m not sure it’s even possible to truly imagine this kind of love until you’ve realized just how lost you are without it, and love Himself steps out from eternity to rescue you. It’s limitless, it’s unfathomable, it’s never ending. What great love the Father has lavished on us… that we should be called children of God. Not only does God’s love tear down the barrier of sin, but it creates a new bond in uniting us together with Him. Love makes us family.

Love makes us family

I wasn’t saved until I was 27 years old, and looking back at my life, I think the first glimpse I got of real agape love was when I became a parent. That was truly the first time I realized love could be unconditional. I looked into the eyes of my little babies (I had two at the time) and even though they couldn’t do anything but cry, eat, sleep, and you know… I looked into those eyes and I would have given my life for theirs - no question.

I had never known that kind of love for another human being. But then, even that deep love was superseded by the love I found in Jesus. When I realized that He actually did give His life for me even when I wasn’t pure and innocent like a little baby. He died on that cross with me in mind, knowing all the things I had done in my life that were displeasing to Him. And by grace through faith He wiped the slate clean, not because of anything I could do for Him, but just because He loved me.

Agape love is a choice we make for eternity. It’s covenantal. It’s love because of a promise. It’s the kind of love that should be between a husband and his bride. So many relationships these days are based on phileo love, an affinity toward another person. Liking the same things, giving each other the right kind of attention. As long as no one ever changes - that works out okay. But life, disappointment, age, and our own selfish desires easily get in the way of that kind of love. This is why many marriages in this day and age eventually fall apart.

The application of agape love can completely change the family dynamic. When we stop looking at what the other person does or doesn’t do to show us love, and we start looking at how we can love the other person unconditionally, we apply the agape love of God into our family. I no longer expect certain things in return because I love my children or my husband. I am no longer seeking fulfillment or validation in their love because I have received the eternal love of Christ. I simply love them because I chose to love them forever, just as Jesus chose to love me.

God keeps His promises no matter what. He stands by His love. Even in the darkest times, He never leaves our side, He’s always there. This has always been God’s desire for us, to be family and to realize His family is here on earth as it is in heaven. That we would live in relationship with Him and know Him as “Our Father.” In the beginning we had that rich communion with God in the Garden, then over the course of thousands of years, we drifted away from God’s agape love and got caught up in our own selfish motives.

But even though we drifted, God continued the promise He had made to Abraham. The promise of a family with descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. Through Jesus, He made us to be these heirs of His Kingdom. Galatians 3:29 “If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise.” In Christ we are all children of God (Galatians 3:26)

Jesus is the perfect example of how to live out God’s agape love by extending that love to others. Now instead of earning God’s love through our behavior and following a list of rules, we are empowered to live them out through love. It’s the greatest commandment and the reason Christ came, to show us how to love God and love others. Matthew 22:37–39 “Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

Now that we know what great love we have recieved from God, we are charged to share it with the world. With our spouse, our children, our neighbors and even strangers. If we obey this command, we will find a satisfaction in life that is filled with completeness. Complete joy, complete peace, complete hope all found in the complete love of Christ.

Closing

As I close, I’d like to remind you of these characteristics of agape love from 1 Corinthians 13:4–8 “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails.”

As we pray today, take a moment to consider this scripture. How does it line up with how you have been loving others? This is a measuring rod for your love - not for you to judge others. The golden rule, you know, do unto others what you would have them do to you, is about your behavior not theirs!

How have you been showing your love? Start with your spouse, your children, then your family and your neighbors, and finally strangers. Does it line up with 1 Corinthians 13:4-8? Or do you go about demanding that others do unto you as you would do unto them if only they would do unto you the right way? Do you hold a list of wrongs in your mind, all the things they’ve done that have hurt you, and because of that you withhold your love?

Remember all those tickets you had piled up with the big guy you couldn’t afford to pay? Jesus came to this earth to live a sinless life as our example, and then He laid down that life to set us free from all the ways we’ve wronged God. You no longer have a record of wrongs in heaven, therefore you should not keep a record of wrongs on earth. Be patient, be kind, forgive. Protect, trust, hope, persevere… Love one another.

Let’s Pray (stand)

I look forward to seeing you all on Christmas Eve Wednesday at 5:00 pm. Please remember and help spread the word, there will not be a regular Service next Sunday! However, I do have some things I would like to share as we prepare for God’s Vision for Cross Creek in the New Year, so please tune in at 10:00 for a special Facebook Live message from me.

The Intercessors are standing by this morning to pray with you and for you. For your family, your neighbors and strangers, that we would all learn to love like Jesus.

Each week, we also have the opportunity to demonstrate our faith in the Lord of all by offering a tithe of all our income to the work of His ministry. We bless these tithes and offerings, Lord, the gifts and the givers. We lift them unto you you not out of our abundance, but out of faith in your eternal promises. For when we give generously and without a grudging heart, according to your word, you will bless all the work of our hand. We present these tithes and offerings to You with joyful hearts; may they be pleasing to you and bring glory to your name. Amen

We also bless the elements of our communion with our Lord Jesus, who gave us the bread and the juice as remembrance of Him and the application of His body on our flesh and His blood upon our souls. The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, “This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me.” In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me.” For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until he comes.

The table is open, come, pray, give, eat and drink. God’s love has come to us in Jesus Christ, go and share His love with the world!